A L U M N U S
P R O F I L E
The Destination is the Journey Everett Kelsey ’84 Everett Kelsey ’84 is no stranger to the hustle and bustle after growing up in New York City. With a keen focus on pursuing his passions, Everett’s dyslexia does not slow him down but instead gives him the strength to work harder. That was not always the case. Everett says he hated going to school as a child and was intimidated by the idea of it. “I remember telling my mother in the first grade that I wasn’t ready for school,” he
says. “I was really scared of school.” His teachers at the Saint Thomas Choir School, a boarding choir elementary school in New York City, recognized that he might have a learning difference. “The teachers noticed certain things with my work that indicated dyslexia,” he says. Testing confirmed that his profile was consistent with dyslexia. Everett applied to several high schools
Everett Kelsey ’84 as a sophomore on the soccer field (photo from Forman’s 1981-82 yearbook)
28
suitable for dyslexic students and was accepted to all of them. He ultimately landed at Forman School, due in part to his school interview where two girls gave him a campus tour. “I was coming from an all-boys choir school … [Ms. Halsey, who organized the tour,] couldn’t have been more brilliant,” Everett recalls with a laugh. “I couldn’t wait to come to the Forman School.” At Forman, he appreciated learning one-on-one with his teachers, especially in Language Training (LT) class. “I had Ms. Lambert, she was an angel,” he says. “It was beyond just being taught, there was a certain personalization of it that was really wonderful for me.” Everett says he tended to be an overachiever, being a New Yorker and all. He excelled at skiing, a sport he still loves; played goalie in lacrosse and soccer; and had his first opportunity to perform, a moment that changed his life. “I always was fascinated by theater, but I never had the courage,” he says. “Also, because of my dyslexia, I didn’t think I could remember all the lines.” After attending a performance in the dining hall starring good friend David Wallach ’83, Everett was inspired. Despite doubts, he promised himself that he would audition the next time there was an opportunity. Everett was later cast as the star of the play Pinky’s Place, which came with nothing short of “an enormous amount of lines.” He practiced often with the help of Ms. Lambert, and in the same dining hall that sparked his interest in theater, Everett performed to a room full of people, including his mother, and “crushed it.”
